The 2-Belo wrote:

> Well, sort of. I had Seiko Noda of the LDP captive in my house for about 90
> minutes on Sunday, and was able to gripe to her about the new immigration
> policy:

Oooo, Noda Seiko ... my favorite legislator lady.  She and my wife 
belong to the same reproductive rights group trying to get health 
insurance to cover in-vitro fertilization.

I like her.  She has bigger balls than most of the men in the LDP. 
She's one of the few likable ones; quite a nice person in her own right. 
  One of the few gi-in who doesn't act like a deer caught in the 
headlights of a speeding truck when I speak to her in Japanese and 
doesn't try to speak to me as though I am a Village Idiot requiring 
small words, spoken slowly, accompanied by pantomime and drawings.

I tried to donate money to her last campaign, when she ran as an 
independent, and that's when I found out that it is against the law for 
foreigners to contribute money.  I was also shocked to find out that 
there are very strict rules concerning what foreigners can and cannot do 
for campaigning candidates, including restrictions on passing out 
leaflets and making speeches.  I guess I could have driven the 
loudspeaker truck, if I knew where I was going.

I wasn't willing to wear the Mickey suit and head for that many hours so 
I didn't do anything for her in the end.

> http://the2belo.livejournal.com/403080.html
> 
> I guess it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she had no idea that the
> "foto-and-fingerprint-the-foreigners" policy included permanent residents such
> as myself, but it did surprise me a little. She seemed genuinely surprised at
> it, and agreed that it was kind of a waste of time and resources to do such a
> thing.

The print 'n pic was buried deep in the proposed legislation among the 
list of things the Ministry "might" consider.  They never voted on that 
specifically, just that it would be a good idea to secure Japan's 
borders, and I wonder how many of them realize it.

> She assured me that she would "look into that more closely". While I am of
> course not holding my breath, it certainly did feel good to gripe in front of an
> actual member of The Government, in person.
> 
> And if this ends up actually getting the law changed, you'll know how to thank.
> :)

Thing is, she, Kono Taro (Kanagawa), and Watanabe Michio's kid (forget 
his name -- he's from Tochigh? or Ibaragi?) are probably best positioned 
to be gadflies.  Kono is former Deputy Homudaijin and Watanabe is 
Harvard educated -- and both of them love to pick apart the Justice 
Ministry for doing exceptionally stupid things.  As a bonus, the press 
listens to those three.

-- 
CL